Delta State University recently sacked six of its
lecturers for their involvement in several offences including alleged sexual
harassment of female students.
The sacking of the lecturers at DELSU is a
welcome development for stakeholders in the education sector. It is a step in
the right direction and I believe it would sound a note of warning to all
erring lecturers. It would also encourage other higher institutions in Nigeria
to discipline lecturers who are found wanting. The challenge of sexual
harassment in academic establishments has existed for generations, and sadly,
it has become a norm despite the obvious iniquitousness in the act by
lecturers.
Recently, a female student at the Osun State
University set up a lecturer who had been pestering her for sex. She gave in to
his demands but unknown to the lecturer; she gave in because she wanted to
obtain documentary evidence. She made a video of her and the lecturer in a room
at a hotel. The lecturer described the video as a lie, but investigations
are still on-going to unveil the truth. The tides have changed and lecturers
must be aware that their acts would not be tolerated and are liable to face
public ridicule if they are caught.
Some lecturers in institutions flagrantly perform
their heinous acts on mostly innocent female undergraduates and have turned
their schools to brothels where sex trades for good grades. It is unfortunate
that the so called ‘custodians of knowledge’ in our academic institutions have
tarnished and degraded their sacrosanct role in the society for sexual
pleasure. No wonder our academic institutions are not moving forward and making
strides like other institutions globally.
In my opinion, female sexual harassment is not only limited to our various
academic institutions, but it is pervasive in every facet of the Nigerian
society. It is at workplaces, homes, neighbourhoods, and even religious
institutions. What is it about some Nigerian men that drive them to see females
as sexual objects alone? Why must the Nigerian man seek to take advantage of a
female he perceives to be subordinate? These actions subject females to
unimaginable trauma, and we as a nation must seek to relegate these occurrences
in the society; by reorienting our male children and adults to respect and
cherish their female counterparts.
Familugba Yewande,
20, writer
punch
No comments:
Post a Comment